Police officer charged with pepper spray, man who died rejects plea deal, lawyer says

A Trenton police officer charged last year with abuse of authority for pepper-spraying a man who later died has rejected a plea deal.

Prosecutors offered officer Nicholas Piotrowski the option of pleading guilty to simple assault, a misdemeanor, and receiving no prison time, his attorney, Jerome Ballarotto, told NJ Advance Media.

“He can’t do that because he didn’t attack this guy,” Ballarotto said.

Piotrowski is accused of using excessive force to spray Joseph Ahr Sr. with pepper spray during an altercation outside his Trenton home in July 2020. He was one of nine officers at the scene, which began when Ahr’s son called the police due to a domestic dispute, which did not involve Ahr Sr.

Officers arrested Ahr Sr. as he continued to argue with them and blocked access to his home, officials said and body camera footage showed. Piotrowski sprayed Ahr as the combative arrestee rushed down his front steps.

As he gasped for air, Ahr told officers he couldn’t breathe and later said he only had one functioning lung. He also had the coronavirus, but it is unclear whether he knew that. He died 18 days later in a local hospital.

A medical examiner determined his cause of death was “acute respiratory failure following the use of pepper spray during the arrest of a person with chronic lung disease and COVID-19.”

Prosecutors allege Piotrowski struck Ahr and sprayed pepper spray directly into his face at point-blank range, violating New Jersey’s use-of-force guidelines.

The use of pepper spray was “unnecessary and inconsistent with his training, a mishandling of a situation that could have ended very differently,” Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a statement last year.

A state grand jury decided to indict Piotrowski on a single count of official misconduct and declined to bring more serious charges that were “directly related” to Ahr’s death weeks later.

By the way, on Thursday, Nov. 21, the federal Justice Department used the Ahr arrest — without naming him — as an example of how Trenton police unnecessarily escalate situations. The damning report, which followed a year-long investigation into Trenton police, concluded that city police officers routinely use excessive force and conduct unlawful searches and arrests.

Ballarotto, who spoke to NJ Advance Media before the report was released, said his client’s actions were appropriate and consistent with his training and therefore he cannot stand in court and admit to an act he did not commit.

The plea deal also would have cost Piotrowski his job.

“I told (prosecutors) to fire or we’re going to trial, and here we are,” Ballarotto said. The trial date is currently scheduled for May.

Attorney General spokesman Dan Prochilo confirmed that Piotrowski was presented with a negotiated plea offer, which is standard practice.

“No agreement has been reached and the defendant has decided to go to court. The state will be ready to present its evidence to a jury on May 13, 2025,” Prochilo said.

Ahr’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit, alleging that his treatment by police caused injuries that directly led to his death after weeks in the intensive care unit. That case is pending, her civil attorney Robin Lord said Wednesday.

Piotrowski’s indictment marked the first time a New Jersey officer has been criminally charged in a police-related death since a 2019 law that placed those investigations in the hands of the attorney general’s office.

Since then, prosecutors have charged Mantua Parish officer Salvatore Oldrati with involuntary manslaughter for a September 2021 shooting that killed a man outside his home. This case is also pending.

SP Sullivan’s reporting contributed to this story.

Thank you for trusting us to provide the local news you can trust. Please consider supporting us NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.

Kevin Shea can be reached at [email protected].